Sacking of waiter was fair

A WAITER who claimed he was sacked by a top Chinese restaurant group because of his trade union activities has had his claim for unfair dismissal thrown out. Tommy Chan took bosses of the Cathay Dim Sum - part of the Yang Sing group - to an employment tribunal, alleging he had been sacked after making complaints about low pay and staffing in his role as union shop steward.

A WAITER who claimed he was sacked by a top Chinese restaurant group because of his trade union activities has had his claim for unfair dismissal thrown out.

Tommy Chan took bosses of the Cathay Dim Sum - part of the Yang Sing group - to an employment tribunal, alleging he had been sacked after making complaints about low pay and staffing in his role as union shop steward.

He had also made allegations, which he later withdrew, that the Manchester-based group deliberately broke employment laws by paying workers below the minimum wage.

But the unanimous judgement of the tribunal panel, just released, is that Mr Chan was dismissed from the Trafford Centre restaurant for reasons of redundancy - and the dismissal was fair.

The panel stressed that the decision was not related to his union membership or activity, nor was it anything to do with whistle-blowing.

The panel said after weighing up the evidence at the Manchester hearing 'there is no evidence of a general hostility towards the union or shop stewards.'

It said the tribunal found chain co-owner Gerry Yeung 'dealt fairly with this matter, consulted throughout, took expert advice for which he paid a fee of £2,000, and did not discriminate against any of the employees, including Mr Chan, for making representations to him, either at this time, or later'.

Dismissal

The tribunal found the main reason for the dismissal was redundancy and Mr Yeung followed a fair procedure, with warnings and meetings where Mr Chan was accompanied by his union representative.

Mr Chan had told the tribunal he was the only one out of 40 staff members to be made redundant by the group and it was done without a genuine selection process.

But the hearing was told he had been a `floating' member of staff, whose duties ranged from waiting on tables to bar and cashier work, and his job had to be cut due to a drop in trade.

The hearing was told the Cathay Dim Sum lost £112,000 in the financial year ending in April 2007 and needed to 'get a grip' to improve profits.

Mr Yeung said he had a 'positive relationship' with the union and denied he picked on Mr Chan due to his role as a shop steward. He said Mr Chan had refused an alternative £15,000 a year job because he would not receive tips.

Mr Yeung told the tribunal that claims by Mr Chan about the employment laws being broken had been made up to discredit the group and no such concerns were raised by Mr Chan when he worked there.